Colorectal Assistant Practitioner | London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

The post holder will provide long term management and support to patients with a stoma, internal pouch or fistula. This specific care will be provided through comprehensive clinical skills, information, advice and support to patients undergoing stoma forming surgery as an inpatient or outpatient.,

• Support the CNS in teaching ward patient's basic stoma/pouch/fistula care in order to prepare the patient for discharge into the community.
• Provide reassurance and some psychosocial support enabling the patient and family to better accept the stoma.
• Support the outpatient service as required for stoma care advice or product management.
• To mentor student nurses or health care assistants in the day-to-day care of patients with a stoma, concentrating on practical aspects of stoma care such as the correct pouch changing technique, sizing of a stoma and appliance cutting, peri-stomal skin assessment and correct appliance selection. This will also include discussion around different colorectal operations and the rationale for stoma creation.
• Act as mentor, under the supervision of the CNS, to educate other healthcare workers to complete related assessments and competencies.
• To maintain departmental and ward stock levels by ordering, auditing and stock taking.
• To maintain the cleanliness of the clinical room, stock room and offices and to always adhere to infection control policy and procedures.
• Take telephone calls for the department, using own initiative to deal with the phone calls and messages. This will involve offering advice when appropriate, and passing to more senior nursing or medical staff when necessary.
• Organise and plan events, such as patient support groups with CNS and team co-ordinator. Promoting and producing supporting information as required, sending out relevant material and selecting appropriate patients to attend. Practical organisation of room facilities, arranging refreshments and bringing together a programme of events.
• To be able to document clearly within patient records, databases and administrative systems. To be able to support the clinical administrator and team coordinator.
• To be able to site patients for a stoma if necessary, assessing the patients abdomen, hand dexterity, vision and understanding of the impact of having a stoma from a practical management aspect, and psychological health once competencies achieved.
  
  St Mark's Hospital is looking to recruit a Colorectal Assistant Practitioner to join their established team of Stoma and Pouch Nurse Specialists.
St Mark's Hospital is based at Central Middlesex Hospital - Including Harrow, Ealing and Brent ICB. The stoma care department at St Mark's Hospital is one of the largest teams in the UK for stoma and fistula management. As a tertiary referral centre we create over 300 new stomas and 30 ileoanal pouches per annum and offer long-term support to community patients in the local boroughs of Harrow, Ealing and Brent. The unit leads on nursing research and development and is well published in the national and international arena., London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) cares for the people of Brent, Ealing, Harrow and beyond. Our team of more than 8,200 clinical and support staff serve a diverse population of almost one million people. We run major acute services at:
• Northwick Park Hospital: home to one of the busiest emergency departments (A&E) in the country. The hospital provides a full range of services including the country's top-rated hyper-acute stroke unit and one of only three hyper-acute rehabilitation units in the UK
• St Mark's Hospital: an internationally renowned specialist centre for bowel disease
• Ealing Hospital: a busy district general hospital providing a range of clinical services, as well as 24/7 emergency department and urgent care centre, and specialist care at Meadow House Hospice
• Central Middlesex Hospital: our planned care site, hosting a range of surgical and outpatient services and collocated with an urgent care centre.
We are a university teaching NHS trust, in recognition of the important role we play in training clinicians of the future and bringing the benefits of research to the public.